Boyce College, the undergraduate school of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has appointed four new faculty members to play key roles in leading academic programs, including the popular worldview degree and the new business management program.
Bryan Baise, 30, will oversee and direct the worldview and apologetics degrees at Boyce College and serve as assistant professor of worldview and apologetics. Baise graduated from the University of Kentucky, received his master’s degree from Southern Seminary and is a Ph.D. candidate at the seminary.
“Bryan provides an intelligent, energetic personality and a winsome voice that will excite young Christians to think carefully about their worldview and how to engage other beliefs with confidence,” said Dan DeWitt, dean of Boyce College. “I am excited for his leadership in our worldview and apologetics program.”
Baise hopes to instill an intellectual curiosity in students through his classes, which will include metaphysics, the problem of evil, religion in the public square, and ethics this semester. He wants students who leave Boyce College with an apologetics degree to be well-equipped to face life and the diverse philosophies they will encounter all over the world, whether in ministry or in the workforce.
“I want it to be a program that’s encouraging, equipping but also engaging,” Baise said. “I firmly believe that philosophy is absolutely everywhere. It’s inescapable; it’s in everything we do; it’s in everything we touch.”
Because philosophy is everywhere, Baise says he wants the program to help students develop a concrete knowledge of what the Christian worldview is and how it applies to all aspects of life.
“I am humbled and honored to be leading the worldview program at Boyce,” Baise said. “My desire is that the program continues to grow and serves as a premier program to equip and encourage students to engage the culture with the gospel of Christ.”
Baise married his wife, Danielle, eight years ago and they have two children — Madelyn, 5, and Collin, 2, with a third child due in November.
Louisville native Kevin Jones assumed duties as the assistant professor of teacher education, in which he will coordinate field and teaching experience for students in addition to teaching courses in Boyce’s teacher education program.
“Kevin embodies exactly what Boyce seeks to offer with its teacher education program: a passionate teacher who is dedicated to the ministry of the gospel in the classroom, church and home. Students will be able to learn from both his instruction and his godly example,” DeWitt said.
Jones previously served as assistant professor in the School of Education at Kentucky State University, where he is an alumnus, and has taught in the public school systems in Fayette, Franklin, and Jefferson counties.
“I long to see Christian teachers and leaders impact the lives of students nationally and internationally, teaching and leading to the glory of God,” Jones said.
A graduate of Spalding University’s Doctor of Education program, Jones is a board member of the Louisville-based urban missions initiative, Love Thy Neighborhood.
His 10 years of experience also includes youth ministry and a pastoral internship under Southern Seminary professor Kevin L. Smith. Jones and his wife are members of Immanuel Baptist Church, where he is completing a pastoral apprenticeship under Ryan Fullerton. He and his wife Demica have three children, Kennedi, Kevin Jr., and Karsynn.
Oren Martin joins the faculty at Southern Seminary and Boyce College as assistant professor of Christian theology. After teaching for a year at Northland International University, Martin returns to the school where he earned his M.Div. (2007) and Ph.D. (2013).
“Oren is a capable theologian who is dedicated in service to the local church. His knowledge in the classroom and faithfulness to his congregation assures that students will forgive that he’s an Aggie fan,” DeWitt said.
Martin, 39, has previously served on the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and was an elder at Clifton Baptist Church and an adjunct professor at Boyce during his first stint in Louisville. He grew up in Houston, Texas, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston.
“I am humbled, honored and thrilled to join the faculty of Southern Seminary and Boyce College,” said Martin, who first moved to Louisville with his family 10 years ago. “I never dreamed that I would come back to teach at the school that has invested so much into me.”
Martin is joined by Cindy, his wife of 15 years, and his three children, Jonathan, Anna, and Benjamin.
“Nothing compares to the joy of stepping into the classroom to teach the most glorious, life-changing truths that have been made known to us by our great and gracious God,” he said. “I love Christ and his church more through the years we spent here, and I am excited to pass on to others what has been passed down to me.”
In May, Boyce announced the hire of Wisconsin native Scott
Moodie, who will oversee the college’s new degree offering in business administration as the assistant professor of business management. The degree is designed to integrate business and missions, and will prepare students for three avenues: intercultural business, non-profit organization efforts, and local church administration.
Moodie is currently completing his Ph.D. in management science at Spain’s ESADE School of Business, consistently listed as one of the best business schools in the world.
“Scott is an exciting addition to Boyce College,” said global studies coordinator John Klaassen. “He has been a part of international churches everywhere he has lived and will bring not only expertise on the business front but a thorough understanding of what it means to live globally, be a churchman internationally and work with businesses cross-culturally. His perspective will be unique among business leaders and his gifting will serve the church in ways that we have never experienced before.”
More information about degree programs at Boyce College is available at boycecollege.com.